DocNOW Documentary MEDIA Festival @ Gallery 1313
August 5- August 27 2021
1313 Queen St. West www.g1313.org
Media 647-769-1568
Gallery 1313 is excited to present the work of documentary artists Neal Rockwell, Ubaid-ur-Rehman and Roya Biazar, as part of the DocNow Documentary Media festival. All three works are multimedia installations documenting different aspects of migrant and refugee experiences.
This show is featured in the Toronto Star as one of 10 exciting shows to see now!
Neal Rockwell’s Property Standards documents the rise of financialized rental housing in Canada, where national and international corporations are becoming landlords to ever larger numbers of people, much to the detriment of tenants’ living conditions and housing affordability. This work specifically focuses on the 2018 mass eviction of nearly 600 people – mainly immigrants and refugees in Ottawa’s Heron Gate housing complex at the hands of their corporate landlord Timbercreek Asset Management (since rebranded to Hazelview Properties).
Ubaid-ur-Rehman’s Eight Acres is a multimedia installation, incorporating photography, video, audio and archival materials, documenting South American routes used by non-status South Asian migrants attempting to reach the United States and Canada. This project focuses specifically on experiences of Pakistani nationals embarking on this journey. The title refers to land that was given to Pakistani citizens at the time of the Partition of India. These lands have typically been passed from parent to child, but today people are selling them to fund often perilous journeys by people lacking official documents and visas who wish to gain entry to Western countries.
Roya Biazar’s Granddaughter is a multi-channel, autoethnographic video installation investigating Indo-Guyanese identity and the corresponding diasporic religiosity of individuals settled within Canada’s multifaceted, plurotheistic society. Specifically, the project exemplifies my grandfather’s malleable views on religion and spirituality as a result of his Guyanese upbringing, East Indian racial and cultural ties, and Canada as his and my family’s final destination point.
This exhibition will take place August 5 — 27, 2021. Opening reception August 5, 7PM
Artist Bios:
Neal Rockwell is a photographer, writer and filmmaker currently living in Toronto. His multidisciplinary work explores the relationship of journalism to art, specifically focusing on the ways that artistic practices can be used to experiment with new journalistic forms. His work has been exhibited across Canada and in Germany. His diverse published writing includes academic articles, short stories, investigative journalism and criticism. His video and cinematographic work has appeared on outlets such as Vice, Al Jazeera Plus, the Independent Film Channel and others. When not working he enjoys reading, cooking and the outdoors. He holds an MFA in Documentary Media from X University.
Ubaid-ur-Rehman is a Toronto based, Pakistani Born documentary photographer currently completing an MFA in Documentary Media at X University. He received a Bachelor of Fine Arts (photography) from the Beaconhouse National University Lahore, Pakistan. His photographic work has focused on various subjects from covering social justice issues, human trafficking, border issues, subcultures and the consequences of war. Currently Rehman is working on issues surrounding human trafficking and smuggling between South Asia and North America.
Roya Biazar is a Toronto-based multimedia artist of Iranian and Indo-Guyanese heritage. Holding a BSc from University of Toronto in Psychology and Cinema Studies, their work uses photography, video, painting and drawing to explore the intersection of artistic practices and cross-cultural psychology. Their current work investigates the multifaceted nature of migrant viewpoints from an autoethnographic perspective; exploring the malleability of identity, culture and spirituality by reflecting on personal family histories.